What is cohesion?

Cohesion refers to the way texts use grammar and vocabulary to ‘stick’ or ‘glue’ ideas together.
This is done through articles  (a/an/the), pronouns (it/this/these/that/those/etc..), word
families (analyse/ analysis) / summary nouns(approach/trend/issue)and synonyms
(effect/consequence). In addition to these above key areas, relative clauses, ellipsis and
connectors are also important.

Cohesion is the grammatical and lexical linking within a text or sentence that holds a text

together and gives it meaning.

Pronouns

Pronouns: It / this / these / that / those / they

Example:  Bristol is situated in the South west of the U.K. It  has a population of 530,000 people.

Word forms

Using other forms of the key verb/noun:

Example: Jones (2016) analysed the data and found that …. This  analysis  provided evidence
that…

Summary Nouns 

Using a noun [this/these + summary noun] to explain the key idea of the previous sentence.

Example: Many psychologists have been investigating the key reasons for divorce for many
years. Their research / evidence  seems to suggest that a lack of communication is one of the key
issues.

Key examples of Summary Nouns:

Synonyms

Using a synonym to avoid word repetition of the previous sentence.

Example:  Economists believe that the next financial crisis will be from Student Loan debt. This
understanding / assumption / thought / knowledge is also shared with financial experts.

Relative clauses

Joining sentences together using relative clauses (which / that / where / who ) aids cohesion

According to Official Government figures (2016), 34 million people voted equating to a 72%
turnout. This was the highest ever number of people in the history of voting.

Relative Clause Example:  According to Official Government figures (2016), 34 million people
voted equating to a 72% turnout which was the highest ever number of people in the history of
voting.

Ellipsis

Ellipsis indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text
without altering its original meaning. Relative Clause Example: There have been a number of
important experiments on how video games encourage violence in adolescents.  Two of the
most interesting (experiments) are based around Smith’s (2018) work.

What is the difference between Cohesion and Coherence?

• If different sentences in a text are linked properly, it is said to be cohesive.

• If a text appears to make sense to a reader, it is said to be coherent.

• A cohesive text can appear as incoherent to the reader making it clear that the two properties of
a text are not the same.

• Coherence is a property decided by the reader whereas cohesion is a property of the text
achieved by the writer making use of different tools like synonyms, verb tenses, time references
etc.

• Cohesion can be measured and verified through rules of grammar and semantics though
measuring coherence is rather difficult.
Coherence

Coherence is concerned with how a writer guides the reader through the argument using logical
connectors. It can be achieved by using signposting phrases. A signpost is a phrase that a writer
or speaker uses to indicate different stages or parts of a written or spoken text

Coherence is a quality of a piece of text that makes it meaningful in the minds of the readers. We
find a person incoherent if he is under the influence of alcohol and not able to speak out in terms
of meaningful sentences. When the text begins to make sense on the whole, it is said to be
coherent. If the readers can follow and understand a text easily, it obviously has coherence.
Rather than the text appearing linked together perfectly, it is the overall impression of the text
that appears to be smooth and clear.

Example: In contrast to the conclusion drawn by Smith (2004), Nguyen (2006) showed that the
connection between the factors was not causal in most circumstances.

Example: The main arguments for Brexit were to regain sovereignty, to cut immigration, and
to remove restrictions of the single market to access global markets.
More example:- as a result; first etc.
Article 2:
What is cohesion?

It is important for the parts of a written text to be connected together. Another word for this is
cohesion. This word comes from the word cohere, which means 'to stick together'. Cohesion is
therefore related to ensuring that the words and sentences you use stick together.

Good cohesion is achieved through the following five main methods, each of which is described
in more detail below:

 repeated words/ideas
 reference words
 transition signals
 substitution
 ellipsis

Two other ways in which cohesion is achieved in a text, which are covered less frequently in
academic English courses, are shell nouns and thematic development. These are also considered
below.

Repeated words/ideas

One way to achieve cohesion is to repeat words, or to repeat ideas using different words
(synonyms). Study the following example. Repeated words (or synonyms) are shown in bold.

Cohesion is an important feature of academic writing. It can help ensure that your writing
coheres or 'sticks together', which will make it easier for the reader to follow the main ideas in
your essay or report. You can achieve good cohesion by paying attention to five important
features. The first of these is repeated words. The second key feature is reference words. The
third one is transition signals. The fourth is substitution. The final important aspect is ellipsis.

In this example, the word cohesion is used several times, including as a verb (coheres). It is
important, in academic writing, to avoid too much repetition, so using different word forms or
synonyms is common. The word writing is also used several times, including the phrase essay or
report, which is a synonym for writing. The words important features are also repeated, again
using synonyms: key feature, important aspect.

Reference words

Reference words are words which are used to refer to something which is mentioned elsewhere
in the text, usually in a preceding sentence. The most common type is pronouns, such as 'it' or
'this' or 'these'. Study the previous example again. This time, the reference words are shown in
bold.

Cohesion is an important feature of academic writing. It can help ensure that your writing
coheres or 'sticks together', which will make it easier for the reader to follow the main ideas in
your essay or report. You can achieve good cohesion by paying attention to five important
features. The first of these is repeated words. The second key feature is reference words. The
third one is transition signals. The fourth is substitution. The final important aspect is ellipsis.

The words it, which and these are reference words. The first two of these, it and which, both refer
to 'cohesion' used in the preceding sentence. The final example, these, refers to 'important
features', again used in the sentence that precedes it.

Transition signals

Transition signals, also called cohesive devices or linking words, are words or phrases which
show the relationship between ideas. There are many different types, the most common of which
are explained in the next section on transition signals. Some examples of transition signals are:

 for example - used to give examples

 in contrast - used to show a contrasting or opposite idea
 first - used to show the first item in a list
 as a result - used to show a result or effect

Study the previous example again. This time, the transition signals are shown in bold. Here the
transition signals simply give a list, relating to the five important features: first, second, third,
fourth, and final.
Cohesion is an important feature of academic writing. It can help ensure that your writing
coheres or 'sticks together', which will make it easier for the reader to follow the main ideas in
your essay or report. You can achieve good cohesion by paying attention to five important
features. The first of these is repeated words. The second key feature is reference words. The
third one is transition signals. The fourth is substitution. The final important aspect is ellipsis.

Substitution

Substitution means using one or more words to replace (substitute) for one or more words used
earlier in the text. Grammatically, it is similar to reference words, the main difference being that
substitution is usually limited to the clause which follows the word(s) being substituted, whereas
reference words can refer to something far back in the text. The most common words used for
substitution are one, so, and auxiliary verbs such as do, have and be. The following is an
example.

 Drinking alcohol before driving is illegal in many countries, since doing so can seriously impair
one's ability to drive safely.

In this sentence, the phrase 'doing so' substitutes for the phrase 'drinking alcohol before driving'
which appears at the beginning of the sentence.

Below is the example used throughout this section. There is just one example of substitution: the
word one, which substitutes for the phrase 'important features'.

Cohesion is an important feature of academic writing. It can help ensure that your writing
coheres or 'sticks together', which will make it easier for the reader to follow the main ideas in
your essay or report. You can achieve good cohesion by paying attention to five important
features. The first of these is repeated words. The second key feature is reference words. The
third one is transition signals. The fourth is substitution. The final important aspect is ellipsis.
Ellipsis

Ellipsis means leaving out one or more words, because the meaning is clear from the context.
Ellipsis is sometimes called substitution by zero, since essentially one or more words are
substituted with no word taking their place.

Below is the example passage again. There is one example of ellipsis: the phrase 'The fourth is',
which means 'The fourth [important feature] is', so the words 'important feature' have been
omitted.

Cohesion is an important feature of academic writing. It can help ensure that your writing
coheres or 'sticks together', which will make it easier for the reader to follow the main ideas in
your essay or report. You can achieve good cohesion by paying attention to five important
features. The first of these is repeated words. The second key feature is reference words. The
third one is transition signals. The fourth is substitution. The final important aspect is ellipsis.

Shell nouns

Shell nouns are abstract nouns which summarise the meaning of preceding or succeeding
information. This summarising helps to generate cohesion. Shell nouns may also be called
carrier nouns, signalling nouns, or anaphoric nouns. Examples are: approach, aspect, category,
challenge, change, characteristics, class, difficulty, effect, event, fact, factor, feature, form, issue,
manner, method, problem, process, purpose, reason, result, stage, subject, system, task,
tendency, trend, and type. They are often used with pronouns 'this', 'these', 'that' or 'those', or with
the definite article 'the'. For example:

 Virus transmission can be reduced via frequent washing of hands, use of face masks, and
isolation of infected individuals. These methods, however, are not completely effective and
transmission may still occur, especially among health workers who have close contact with
infected individuals.
 An increasing number of overseas students are attending university in the UK. This trend has led
to increased support networks for overseas students.

In the example passage used throughout this section, the word features serves as a shell noun,
summarising the information later in the passage.
Thematic development

Cohesion can also be achieved by its thematic development. The term theme refers to the first
element of a sentence or clause. The development of the theme in the rest of the sentence is
called the rheme. It is common for the rheme of one sentence to form the theme of the next
sentence; this type of organisation is often referred to as given-to-new structure, and helps to
make writing cohere.

Consider the following short passage, which is an extension of the first example above.

 Virus transmission can be reduced via frequent washing of hands, use of face masks, and
isolation of infected individuals. These methods, however, are not completely effective and
transmission may still occur, especially among health workers who have close contact with
infected individuals. It is important for such health workers to pay particular attention to
transmission methods and undergo regular screening.

Here we have the following pattern:

 Virus transmission [theme]

 can be reduced via frequent washing of hands, use of face masks, and isolation of infected
individuals [rheme]
 These methods [theme = rheme of preceding sentence]
 are not completely effective and transmission may still occur, especially among those such as
health workers who have close contact with infected individuals [rheme]
 health workers [theme, contained in rheme of preceding sentence]
 [need to] to pay particular attention to transmission methods and undergo regular screening
[rheme]

Cohesion vs. coherence

The words 'cohesion' and 'coherence' are often used together with a similar meaning, which
relates to how an academic text joins together to make a unified whole. Although they are
similar, they are not the same. Cohesion relates to the micro level of the text, i.e. the words and
sentences and how they join together. Coherence, in contrast, relates to the organisation and
connection of ideas and whether they can be understood by the reader, and as such is concerned
with the macro level features of a text, such as topic sentences, thesis statement, the summary in
the concluding paragraph (dealt with in the essay structure section), and other 'bigger' features
including headings such as those used in reports.
Coherence can be improved by using an outline before writing (or a reverse outline, which is an
outline written after the writing is finished), to check that the ideas are logical and well
organised. Asking a peer to check the writing to see if it makes sense, i.e. peer feedback, is
another way to help improve coherence in your writing.

Example essay

Below is an example essay. It is the one used in the persuasion essay section. Click on the
different areas (in the shaded boxes to the right) to highlight the different cohesive aspects in this
essay, i.e. repeated words/ideas, reference words, transition signals, substitution and ellipsis.

Title: Consider whether human activity has made the world a better place.

History shows that human beings have come a long way from where they started. They have
developed new technologies which means that everybody can enjoy luxuries they never
previously imagined. However, the technologies that are temporarily making this world a better
place to live could well prove to be an ultimate disaster due to, among other things, the creation
of nuclear weapons, increasing pollution, and loss of animal species.

The biggest threat to the earth caused by modern human activity comes from the creation of
nuclear weapons. Although it cannot be denied that countries have to defend themselves, the
kind of weapons that some of them currently possess are far in excess of what is needed for
defence. If these weapons were used, they could lead to the destruction of the entire planet.

Another harm caused by human activity to this earth is pollution. People have become reliant on
modern technology, which can have adverse effects on the environment. For example, reliance
on cars causes air and noise pollution. Even seemingly innocent devices, such as computers and
mobile phones, use electricity, most of which is produced from coal-burning power stations,
which further adds to environmental pollution. If we do not curb our direct and indirect use of
fossil fuels, the harm to the environment may be catastrophic.

Animals are an important feature of this earth and the past decades have witnessed the
extinction of a considerable number of animal species. This is the consequence of human
encroachment on wildlife habitats, for example deforestation to expand cities. Some may argue
that such loss of species is natural and has occurred throughout earth's history. However, the
current rate of species loss far exceeds normal levels, and is threatening to become a mass
extinction event.
In summary, there is no doubt that current human activities such as the creation of nuclear
weapons, pollution, and destruction of wildlife, are harmful to the earth. It is important for us to
see not only the short-term effects of our actions, but their long-term ones as well. Otherwise,
human activities will be just another step towards destruction.

Article 3:

Writers also use similar related words that form part of a lexical chain. 

An example of this is when describing a festival, the writer may use words such as celebration,
party and festivity, or fancy dress, costumes and masks. Reference words (such as it, they or
them) also may be part of a lexical chain.

A good writer tends to use the same tense to hold the text together. This helps to make the text
more comprehensible for the reader, rather than jumping from one tense to another.

Writers use linking words to allow the reader to predict the information that is coming also
helps the reader. These might be related to time; e.g. ‘an hour later’ or sequence; e.g. ‘before
that’.

Words are sometimes left out because the meaning is clear from a previous sentence or clause.

This is called ellipsis. For example, “I love horror movies!” might get an answer “I don’t.”
which is short for “I don’t like horror movies.”